Death in Heaven
by Jananae
Summary: Clara's identity is revealed, and Missy's plans come to fruition. A "Death in Heaven" prediction. Two-parter now complete.
1. Death in Heaven

**A/N—I have to say, I enjoyed writing this piece quite a bit; so many ideas crammed into two chapters. Do I think this is what's going to happen in the finale? Probably not. But the possibility is always there (this is Doctor Who, after all). This piece is an accumulation of many of my Series 8 thoughts and where I think it could end. I plan for the finale chapter of this piece to be posted tomorrow.**

"It feels...weird."

"Of course it feels weird; you've driven around a collection of organs and bones encased in skin all your life. Mechanics will never feel right."

Danny flexed one of his robotic hands, hearing the unnatural clicks and whirs beneath his new polymer skin. Staring at an appendage that he still couldn't call "his," he asked the Doctor, "...How do they get used to it?"

The Doctor cast an almost bored look back at the two Cybermen marching them down the hallway at gunpoint. "They get 'used to it' because they have no emotions or feelings; they don't register discomfort anymore," he said looking ahead again as another Cyberman led them back in the direction of what seemed to be (or was) Dr. Chang's office.

After a pause, Danny asked, "How did you know you could do it? Put my soul, or whatever it is, into this body? It's only a walking computer," he said, glancing sideways.

The Doctor stared ahead in silence, the muscles in his neck taut. Just as Danny assumed an answer was not forthcoming, he said without elaboration, "I've done it before." Danny didn't question further as the Cyberman directed them through the double doors of the office.

As they slid shut behind them, another door on the far end of the room opened, Clara strolling through it.

"Clara!" both Danny and the Doctor exclaimed in surprise. The two Cybermen behind them clamped their steel clad hands on their shoulders, keeping them where they were. As Clara approached the center of the room, the third Cyberman pointed its weapon at her, poised to fire.

Danny and the Doctor tensed as it ordered in a monotonous voice, "Halt, Clara Oswald. You have been identified as an enemy of the Cybermen."

Clara simply smirked at its blank, emotionless face. "You really don't know who you're pointing that thing at, do you?"

"You are Clara Oswald. Clara Oswald has been identified-"

"Oh, shut that tin mouth of yours," she said, becoming visibly aggravated.

"Clara Oswald-"

Holding up her hand, Clara said indignantly, "Let me stop you there; we're not getting anywhere with this. Do I really need to spell it out for you? I'm not Clara Oswald. Clara Oswald has never existed!" she said, spreading her arms wide.

As the Cyberman tried in vain to comprehend her response, Danny looked at the Doctor in bewilderment and said quietly, "What's she doing?" He didn't answer, but based on the look of consternation on his face, he seemed just as lost as Danny felt.

At that moment, Missy strode through the same door Clara entered by, ordering, "Lower that weapon, you mechanical fool." The Cyberman put its arm down, stepping to the side.

"We have captured the Doctor and the android known as Danny Pink." Missy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Clara, taking in Danny's artificial form.

"I see you've found a body to occupy. Your doing, I presume," she said, looking pointedly at the Doctor.

He answered slowly as if in a daze, gears turning behind his furrowed brow as he gazed at the unnatural smile on Clara's face. "It doesn't quite have his...original charm, but I managed with what I had...which turned out to be quite a lot. Considering all the...unprogrammed androids you have here... the turnover rate must be...incredible. Why did you say you're 'not Clara'?" the Doctor questioned suddenly, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Because I'm not," she said slowly, drawing out her words as if speaking to someone dimwitted.

"Of course you are!" Danny spoke up, confusion still on his face.

"Um, no, I'm not."

"Yes you are!" he said, trying to take a step forward.

Clara threw her hands up and turned to Missy. "I don't have the patience for this," she said in the tone of someone admitting defeat. "Could you?" she asked her, waving an impatient hand in Danny and the Doctor's direction.

"With pleasure," Missy said wolfishly, eyeing the Doctor the same way a predator might consider its prey. "Where to begin?!" she wondered aloud. "Well, I can't be expected to explain EVERYTHING, so how about the most important bits?"

She slowly approached the Doctor, her hands clasped behind her back. "As far as you're concerned, it all started when Clara made that little hop into your time stream," she said with the air of an adult reading a bedtime story to a child. "She jumped in, you found her, and you both jumped out. She saved your life, you saved hers, it was all so touching," she said with a cloyingly sweet smile. She reached up and caressed the Doctor's face. He flinched away from her touch, but kept his eyes focused on hers.

"Oh," she said in mock disappointment, pursing her lips. Withdrawing her hand, she said with a smile, "Did you think that wouldn't have consequences?" She turned around and returned to Clara. "A delicate human brain coming into such close proximity to everything that makes you _you_? All those emotions, traits, and tendencies. Her fragile little head couldn't help it."

Understanding dawned on the Doctor's face. "Didn't you notice?" she asked innocently. "Ever since her foray into your time stream, hasn't she seemed a bit...off?" she said, smiling at the Doctor's stunned face. "Maybe _being_ the source makes it a little hard to see," she conceded with a wave of her hand. "Forest from the trees and all.

"But she'd taken on an awful lot of your traits recently, hadn't she? The impatience? The _itching_ for perilous dangers?...The lying?" she said, casting a glance at Danny. "She absorbed it all like a sponge when she entered your conscious. With every following interaction she had with you, the _you_ in her head was coaxed more and more to the forefront."

Missy pulled a lump of metal from her pocket. "Do you recognize what this is?" She paused for a moment. "From your silence, I don't think you do. This is what _used_ to be a pocket watch." Examining it from different angles, she indicated the Doctor. "Use that prodigious thought process of yours, Doctor: What piece of Time Lord technology do you know involves the use of a pocket watch?" she questioned, a teacher in front of her class.

Horror flashed across the Doctor's face. "A Chameleon Arch," he said despairingly.

"A Chameleon Arch! Yes, now you're getting it!" She waved at Clara as if displaying a newly unveiled product. "Clara is _no longer_ Clara! Clara is no longer even human! She's a Time Lady now!" Missy exclaimed clasping her hands together, admiring the woman next to her.

"That, that's-" the Doctor stammered in dismay, pointing at the metal in Missy's hand.

"This _was_ Clara," she clarified, holding up the ruins of the watch. "Which is no more."

"No, no-" Danny shook his head in disbelief.

Clara sighed in disgust. "Why is this so hard for you to understand? I know your brain is just as bad as theirs now," she said indicating the Cybermen over their shoulders, "but surely it can't be THAT hard to comprehend."

"You're wrong! You're Clara! Clara's still-!"

"Everything that was Clara," she interjected loudly, "was in that watch. That watch is gone now."

"NO! You're not _dead_! You're Clara!" he repeated desperately.

"Well, you're right on half of those counts: No, _I'm_ not dead. But I'm not Clara," she said dangerously. Stepping forward, she gestured grandiosely. "I am the Valeyard."

The Doctor stumbled back, his eyes transfixed on Clara, uttering with wild eyes, "You're-"

"I am," Clara offered with a smile. The Doctor stared bewildered at Missy, silently pleading for an explanation.

"You know full well how a Chameleon Arch works. But the biological changes don't make her the Valeyard. You can, however, specify which memories and traits to store in the watch, and which to leave within the changed body. Clara had already absorbed all your _lovely_ traits. It was only a matter of keeping the worst of the worst." Missy smiled appreciatively at the Doctor's terror stricken face. "Looking into a mirror isn't always pleasant, is it?" He fell back against the Cyberman restraining him, dismay having completely overtaken his features.

Danny continued plaintively. "Clara. Please. It's me, Danny."

Sauntering up to him, a sickening smile painted across her face, Clara stated, "I am 'Clara Oswald' no more than you're 'Danny Pink'. Even less so," she said, eyeing Danny's mechanical form.

"I _am_ Danny-!"

She suddenly poked hard at his unnatural chest and leaned in, saying quietly, "You...are an echo in a shell. You are mere consciousness wrapped in plastic." She gave him a pitying, mocking smile. "Did you think that was actually _Danny_ in there? Danny Pink. The soldier-turned-teacher. That man...is no longer. You are an _impression_ of him, however much you may believe otherwise," she said with a disdainful glance at his new body.

Turning around, she returned to Missy's side. "Well, shall we be off?"

Taking in the wreckage, she replied with relish, "Yes, I think we shall. So much to do!" As they turned to go, the Cybermen released Danny and the Doctor and followed in their wake.

The Doctor gathered himself and asked disbelievingly, "You're just going to leave us?"

Missy stopped, turning back. "Not only that, I'm going to leave you with _your_ TARDIS! With my new TARDIS fresh from a pocket universe Gallifrey, we can chase each other all over time and space! Isn't that exciting?! And now," she waved at Clara beside her, "I have a _You_ to travel with. Oh, this will be fun," she said with a maniacal smile.

She took another step before turning back again. "Oh, and you can keep this," she said, tossing the lump of metal in their direction. It skidded across the floor, coming to rest before them. "I'm not particularly sentimental, but I think you'll appreciate having it," she smiled.

Turning around, Missy walked away, waving over her shoulder, Clara following. "Enjoy your travels! Do come and find us sometime. I'm very much looking forward to it." The Doctor's eyes bore into the back of Missy's head. Before the door closed, she yelled, "I left your screwdriver on the TARDIS's doorstep! Tata!"

Clara reached the door, about to disappear before Danny called, "Clara," his voice catching slightly.

Exasperated, she turned, one hand on the door. "I told you-"

"Wherever you are, whatever it takes, I will be with you again, I swear. I have to be with Clara Oswald," he said, a passably pained expression crossing his mechanical face.

She stared straight back at him, no emotion on hers. "No, you won't. And you can't." She turned her back and let the door close between them.

**A/N—Thank you very much for taking the time to read! Look for the final chapter tomorrow! Please review, comment, or criticize. Until next time, happy reading!**


	2. Rationalism vs Idealism

It was exactly where she said she'd left it. The Doctor stooped and scooped up his screwdriver, turning it over in a cursory examination. Pocketing it, he pulled out his key to the TARDIS, staring at it for a bit longer than would be considered "normal". Sensing Danny behind him, he inserted the key, turning the lock. As the bigger-on-the-inside box swallowed Danny and the Doctor, the doors slammed shut behind them.

The Doctor immediately strode over to the TARDIS controls and went to work pushing buttons and lifting levers. Danny leaned heavily against the railing encircling the TARDIS console, gazing at the lump of dull metal in his hand.

"Now, if you'd like, I can drop you off on an all-cyborg world. Or android. I won't judge," the Doctor said with a shrug. Danny looked up sharply in disbelief, pushing himself to full-standing position.

"You're not serious." The Doctor raised his head and peered at Danny's distorted image through the console's central pillar. "We have to find her."

"Uh, yeah, I am. And no, _we_ don't," he said, returning to the controls in front of him.

"Clara is out there somewhere, and we need to get her back!"

Slamming his fist on the console, the Doctor stormed around it to look at Danny straight-on. "Were you even paying attention? The Clara we know is _gone_. Missy destroyed whatever made her _her_. That watch, with all it's precious memories, thoughts, and emotions was the ONLY thing that could make her 'Clara' again. And it no longer exists! Just take a look at that piece of scrap in your hands. There is no going back to the way things were. You don't even have a body anymore!" he said with an irritated wave of his hand.

"But I can damn well use it to bring her back! Maybe there isn't much hope of us getting back to our old lives, but I can sure as hell try to give _her_ a life again! You say that if this was whole," he said, shaking the remains of the pocket watch, "we could bring her back. That means Clara is in the Valeyard somewhere."

"I keep telling you!" The Doctor threw up his hands in frustration. "Why do you humans never listen?! It is not possible without that watch! Do you have _any_ fathomable idea how Time Lord technology works? Of course you don't! But you SHOULD know what you've learned today! Get it through that artificial head of yours! We LOST. She is now my doppelganger, an evil twin. The _evilist_ of twins. Yes, I will find her. But only to destroy her. And I don't need your metal and polymer body to help me."

Staring at him aghast, Danny asked incredulously, "You're not even going to try?! After _everything_ she has done for you, you're just going to, what, kill her?!"

"She is not-"

"I don't care if you say it's impossible! She told me about some of the things you and her did that were considered 'impossible'! So don't tell me you're giving up on her!" Danny yelled, jabbing an angry finger at the Doctor. "You _will_ take me with you. And we will find her. Not the Valeyard in her body. We'll find _her_."

"You humans. You believe in hope to the point of idiocy," he said with a disgusted wave of his hand.

"If we don't have hope, then what do we have?"

"A realistic outlook!" the Doctor fired back bluntly. In the silence that followed, he rubbed his right temple in frustration. "Disregarding the fact that this 'plan' of yours is _properly_ impossible," he said, emphasizing the word, "and will never work, we're not exactly the most ideal travel companions anyway," the Doctor said dismissively. "We've never had very..._rosy_ feelings for each other."

"Well I sure can't deny that," Danny shot back sardonically. He strode over to the Doctor and said evenly, "But you need me."

The Doctor glanced at him in disbelief. "Why would I _ever_ need you?"

"Because you think you have to kill Clara-"

"She's NOT-!"

"But I know you don't want to," Danny interrupted. "And you need me to remind of you of that."

"What, you'll be a conscience on my shoulder? I've got enough things on my shoulders."

"Do you want to add more guilt to that chip you carry so much?" Danny retorted.

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor said, turning away from his intense gaze. Silence fell as he strode to the center of the room and leaned against the controls. Danny returned to his side and leveled him with a piercing stare.

"She told me all about you," he continued. "How much she believed in you. How 'admirable' your beliefs are. How you would always try to do things for the good. If there is even the _slightest_ chance she is still in there, how can you deny her that chance?" he questioned emphatically.

The Doctor simply shook his head, never lifting his eyes from the console. With disgust, Danny said, "She must've been wrong about her faith in you and what you believe in. Because I'm not seeing it."

Rounding on Danny, the Doctor spat menacingly, "Don't. You. Dare."

Danny drew himself up to his fullest height and eyed the Doctor defiantly. "I do. Prove me wrong." Shaking his head again, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS's controls and began angrily flipping switches. "Prove me wrong!" Danny shouted furiously.

"What do you think I'm DOING?!" the Doctor shot back, his voice escalating with each word. Danny fell back on his heels and stared in disbelief. "Oh, don't give me that look! Your new eyes are just as bad as hers," he said with a wave of his hand. The Doctor circled around the console, pushing buttons and turning dials. With a resigned tone, he said "You need a more fitting body, one that doesn't have such big..._those_," he said, indicating Danny's still-wide eyes. "We're going to a planet called Cybermal. Yes, that's it's actual name. No, it has nothing to do with the internet, technically. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's one of the best places in the universe to get an advanced android body, one that doesn't feel so...clunky to a human being or...whatever you are now," he said, gesturing to Danny's borrowed form.

"You're going to do it? You're going to try to save her?" Danny inquired, stunned.

With the briefest of glances back up at him, the Doctor added, "I have an acquaintance there that owes me a favor. If you can stop treating me like I don't have a conscience, maybe I can get you a body with your old appearance, if that's what you want."

The silence stretched on until Danny slowly circled the console to stand at the Doctor's side. He raised his fist and gingerly placed the remains of the ruined pocket watch on a seemingly secure spot on the TARDIS's sloping control panel. "You _are_ a good man," Danny said weightily. The Doctor focused on the significant lump of metal placed before him. A moment later, he hit one last button, and the sound of untouched brakes emanated around them.

As the TARDIS cut its ties to their current place in space and time, Danny and the Doctor raised their heads and stared wordlessly at the spinning Gallifreyen-inscribed mechanism above them.

**A/N—Thank you for reading through my "Death in Heaven" prediction! Reviews, comments, and criticisms welcome. Until next time, happy reading, and enjoy the Series 8 finale!**


End file.
